It took seven turns at detox centers and more than a few brushes with the law before Jennifer Ulich was able to kick her substance-abuse habit.

The 32-year-old Rockland resident credits the relatively new addiction-battling treatment Vivitrol with keeping her alive and drug-free.

“It saved my life,” Ulich said about the Massachusetts-made Vivitrol. She was injected with the drug once a month for a year and a half. “Once I started taking it, the obsession was gone,” she said.

“The cravings were gone within a few months, and I had absolutely no side effects,” said Ulich, who now works at Preventative Medicine Associates, the treatment center where she received her doses of Vivitrol, which is also known as Naltrexone.

Although Ulich says she had no side effects from the drug, Alkermes Inc., the Waltham company that makes it, does warn users about possible nausea, headaches, fatigue and vomiting.

Vivitrol is not widely known outside of the addiction community, for a variety of reasons. In some recovery circles, there’s a stronger preference for more sobriety that isn’t based on a chemical.

But the non-narcotic, non-addictive drug had a marquee presence at the National Association of Drug Court Professionals’ annual conference, held in late May in Boston.

Officials from the Barnstable Guidance and Education Center told conference attendees that Vivitrol has had great success, after its staff began dispensing it to addicts who opted to participate in Cape Cod court-approved rehabilitation programs.

Also, officials from Michigan and Mississippi said they see Vivitrol as the next great hope in addiction treatment. Both states offer Vivitrol to addicts as part of court-enforced treatment programs.

So far, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has only approved Vivitrol for alcohol addiction. The FDA has not yet approved its use to treat opiate addiction, although many people use it for that purpose.

The drug works by lessening the impacts of alcohol when it is ingested. Alcoholics who continue to abuse alcohol while taking Vivitrol can get really sick, in addition to not being able to get drunk.

“If you try to get high, it blocks it,“ Ulich said.

The help doesn’t come cheap. A shot of the extended-release Vivitrol costs $920, but Ulich said many insurance companies cover the treatment.